Methods and apparatus for reducing anxiety during travel

ABSTRACT

In some embodiments, a system is provided that includes a portable electronic device; and an application executable on the portable electronic device, the application including computer program code that (a) monitors acceleration data during a flight of an airplane; and (b) displays a representation of the acceleration data in relation to a threshold acceleration of the airplane. Numerous other aspects are provided.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/056,900 filed Oct. 17, 2013, and titled “METHODSAND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING ANXIETY DURING TRAVEL”, which claims priorityto U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/715,245, filed on Oct. 17,2012, and entitled “METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING FLIGHT ANXIETY”.Each of these applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein inits entirety for all purposes.

FIELD

The present invention relates to reducing anxiety, and more particularlyto methods and apparatus for reducing anxiety during travel.

BACKGROUND

Flying on an airplane may cause mild to moderate anxiety for manypassengers, and severe anxiety for some passengers. By some estimates,up to 15% of the population is afraid to fly on an airplane. See, forexample, McGee, “New Strategies for Fear of Flying,” www.USATODAY.comTravel, Columns & Blogs, Aug. 5, 2009.

Numerous counseling programs have been developed to help people overcometheir fear of flying. Most involve educating people about the mechanicsof flight, teaching breathing techniques, and/or psychologicalcounseling. Such programs typically are costly, and may not provideactive comfort during a flight.

SUMMARY

In some embodiments, a system is provided that includes a portableelectronic device; and an application executable on the portableelectronic device, the application including computer program code that(a) monitors acceleration data during a flight of an airplane; and (b)displays a representation of the acceleration data in relation to athreshold acceleration of the airplane.

In some embodiments, an apparatus is provided that includes a portableelectronic device including one or more accelerometers and a display.The portable electronic device is operative to determine instantaneousmagnitudes of acceleration experienced over time by an aircraft carryingthe portable electronic device based on measurements of theaccelerometers during a flight of the aircraft, and the portableelectronic device is further operative to display a representation ofthe magnitudes of acceleration over time as acceleration data inrelation to a threshold acceleration tolerance level of the aircraft.

In some embodiments a method of reducing anxiety during a flight isprovided that includes (1) providing a portable electronic device havingan application executable on the portable device, the applicationincluding computer program code that monitors acceleration data during aflight of an airplane and displays a representation of the accelerationdata in relation to a threshold acceleration of the airplane; and (2)employing the portable electronic device during a flight on an airplaneto monitor acceleration data during the flight of the airplane anddisplay a representation of the acceleration data in relation to athreshold acceleration of the airplane.

Numerous other aspects are provided. Other features and aspects of thepresent invention will become more fully apparent from the followingdetailed description, the appended claims and the accompanying drawings.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts an example representation of acceleration forceinformation experienced by an aircraft according to embodiments of thepresent invention.

FIGS. 2A & 2B depict examples of devices being used to sense and displayacceleration force information according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

FIGS. 3A & 3B depict example displays of example representations ofacceleration force information experienced by an aircraft according toembodiments of the present invention.

FIGS. 4 through 7 are flowcharts that depict example methods accordingto embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 8 depicts a schematic drawing of an example system according toembodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present invention provide methods and apparatus forreducing anxiety related to traveling in aircraft or other vehicles. Inone or more embodiments, acceleration data regarding a plane iscollected during a flight and displayed to a passenger. The accelerationdata represents acceleration force information over time experienced byan aircraft (or other vehicle) along a vertical direction, alongitudinal direction, a lateral direction, and/or a composite of twoor more directions, for example.

According to embodiments of the present invention, acceleration data maybe measured by a standalone acceleration module with a three axisaccelerometer, for example, or by employing the accelerometers availablein a cellular telephone, smart wristwatch, tablet computer, portablevideo game player or the like. In some embodiments, the accelerationdata may be displayed along with the maximum safe (or other threshold)acceleration values for the vehicle on which the passenger is traveling.Measured acceleration data typically will be significantly smaller inmagnitude than the maximum acceleration values tolerable by the vehicle,e.g., an aircraft. As such, a graphic representation that provides avisualization of real-time, measured acceleration during travel may becomforting to a passenger as the passenger will observe that despitebeing unpleasant, even abrupt movements of a vehicle, e.g., due toturbulence, do not typically place significant stress on the vehicle.

Throughout the following description, embodiments of the presentinvention will be described with respect to flight travel in an aircraftto provide clear examples. However, it will be understood that thepresent invention may be embodied in and applicable to many forms oftravel including travel in trains, boats, submarines, spacecraft,automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, horses, and the like.

In one or more embodiments, flight information, calming messages,advice, maps, and/or other content, may be selected, displayed and/orplayed for a passenger based on measured acceleration data. For example,as turbulence increases, measured acceleration values may increase invalue and content provided to a passenger may be tailored based on themagnitude of the measured acceleration. In general, content may beselected based on magnitude of the acceleration or rate of change of theacceleration, after a predetermined number of threshold accelerationvalues have been reached and/or crossed, or based on any other suitableparameter(s).

In some embodiments, biometric information about a passenger during aflight may be measured in addition to, or instead of, acceleration data.For example, a cellular telephone, tablet computer, smart wristwatch,wearable sensor, portable video game player or the like may be employedto monitor biometric data such as heart rate, pulse rate, brainactivity, skin resistivity, breathing rate, or the like, during aflight. Such information, alone or in combination with measuredacceleration data, may be employed to affect, select, or determinecontent provided to a passenger during a flight.

These and other embodiments are described below with reference to FIGS.1-8.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an airplane 100 during flight. Airplane100 is shown traveling along a flight path 102 through storm clouds 104and other clouds 106. Typically airplane 100 flies along a primarilystraight path for the majority of its flight.

As airplane 100 is flying, it may experience turbulence. Turbulence maybe caused by many factors such as the presence of storm clouds 102 andassociated updrafts and/or downdrafts, other cloud types 104, strongwinds, surface features such as mountains, clear air turbulence, or thelike. Turbulence may cause an airplane to shake, bounce up and down orside to side, drop unexpectedly, or otherwise move unexpectedly,abruptly, or in a manner that causes many passengers concern (asindicated by arrows 108 a-c). One concern passengers may have is thatthe turbulence may damage the aircraft or otherwise create an unsafeflying condition.

FIGS. 2A-2B illustrate a passenger seat 200 on an aircraft. Duringflight, a passenger (not shown) may employ a tray 202 for eating,drinking, working or the like. As shown in FIG. 2A, a cellular telephone204 is positioned on the tray 202; while in FIG. 2B, a tablet computer206 is positioned on the tray 202.

In accordance with embodiments of the present invention, and asdescribed further below, cellular telephone 204 and/or tablet computer206 (and/or any other suitable portable electronic device such as asmart wristwatch) may include computer program code and/or one or morecomputer program products that may monitor acceleration of the airplane100 along one or more directions/axes. For instance, most smartphonesand tablet computers employ accelerometers and/or similar devices todetect position and/or change in position of the devices, and use thisinformation for orienting images on a display. Such accelerometers mayalso be employed to provide acceleration values along one, two, three ormore directions. In addition, the accelerometers may be used todetermine a total magnitude or composite of acceleration experienced inall directions. In some embodiments, an external device such as awearable sensor (e.g., a smart wrist watch, a wrist band withaccelerometers, etc.), may measure acceleration information and providethe acceleration information to a portable electronic device such as thecellular telephone 204 or tablet computer 206.

In some embodiments, the acceleration information may be correlated withtime and location (e.g., geographic position, altitude, etc.) which mayalso be determined by the electronic device or received from any otherdata source (e.g., input from a user, a signal from a plane, a radiobroadcast, GPS satellites, a real time clock signal, another user'selectronic device, etc.).

FIG. 3A is an example display/interface 300 that may be displayed oncellular telephone 204, tablet 206, smart wristwatch, or a similarportable electronic device. The display/interface 300 may be embodied,for example, as computer program code within a memory (not shown) of aportable electronic device.

With reference to FIG. 3A, the display/interface 300 includes plots 302a-c of acceleration data measured along lateral, vertical andlongitudinal axes, respectively, of plane 100 during a flight of plane100 along its flight path. For example, cellular telephone 204, tablet206 or a similar portable electronic device may be placed on tray 202,or held by a passenger, and used to monitor and/or collect accelerationdata along one or more axis during flight. The acceleration data, or arepresentation thereof, may be plotted along each respective axis asshown. In some embodiments, acceleration data may be displayed in termsof G force.

Also displayed on each plot are maximum values for acceleration alongeach axis. These may be based on, for example, the maximum tolerable orotherwise relevant acceleration numbers for the plane 100 (e.g., valuesthat should not be exceeded by the plane 100). Real time accelerationdata may be displayed for each axis, such as in tables 304 a-c,respectively. The graphics, plots and/or data shown in FIGS. 3A-3B aremerely representative. Other graphics, plots and/or data may bedisplayed.

With reference to FIG. 3B, the display/interface 300 includes a plot 302of acceleration magnitude data measured as a composite of lateral,vertical and longitudinal forces experienced by plane 100 during aflight along a flight path. For example, cellular telephone 204, tablet206, a smart wristwatch, or a similar portable electronic device may beplaced on tray 202, or held/worn by a passenger, and used to monitorand/or collect acceleration data during a flight. The acceleration data,or a representation thereof, may be plotted along the flight path asshown. The plot 302 may be overlaid on a geographic map or otherrepresentation of location that correlates turbulence events withlocation. Likewise, as shown in FIG. 3B, a timescale may be includedthat allows turbulence events to be correlated with time.

Example methods provided in accordance with embodiments of the presentinvention are described below with reference to FIGS. 4-7. These andother methods in accordance with the present invention may beimplemented in hardware, software and/or a combination of the same. Insome embodiments, computer program code may be provided on a cellulartelephone, tablet computer, laptop computer, portable video game playeror similar device for implementing one or more of the methods describedherein. In some embodiments, monitored acceleration and/or biometricdata may be collected and transmitted to a remote computer such as a webserver from one or more portable devices.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart of an example method 400 provided in accordancewith the present invention. The method 400 begins in Block 401 in whichthe type of aircraft being flown is determined (e.g., Boeing 747-787,Airbus 319-380, etc.). For example, a passenger may select an airplanetype from a list of aircraft displayed via an application executing oncellular telephone 204, tablet 206, or the like. Based on the aircrafttype, in Block 402, maximum, tolerable or otherwise relevant thresholdacceleration values may be determined for the selected aircraft (e.g.,such as a threshold acceleration tolerance level that may cause concernfor a passenger or be otherwise significant). In some embodiments, adatabase or lookup table of aircraft and corresponding maximum (orotherwise relevant) lateral, vertical and/or longitudinal accelerationvalues may be developed and stored in the cellular telephone 204, tablet206, etc.

In Block 403, acceleration data is measured during flight. For example,an application executing on the cellular telephone 204, tablet 206 orother suitable portable electronic device, may direct the passenger toplace the portable electronic device in a particular orientation (e.g.,with a top facing the front of the plane, by displaying an arrow on theportable electronic device and directing the passenger to ensure thearrow points toward the front of the plane, etc.). The portableelectronic device then may measure acceleration along lateral, verticaland/or longitudinal directions during the flight (e.g., using one ormore accelerometers within the portable electronic device or an externalaccelerometer in communication with the portable device). In someembodiments, the portable electronic device may determine itsorientation automatically (e.g., based on GPS data/position changeduring a flight, for example). In Block 404, a representation ofmeasured acceleration along the flight path is displayed. For instance,a plot, table or other representation of acceleration data may bedisplayed, such as shown in FIGS. 3A-B. An auditory readout also may beemployed.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an example method 500 provided in accordancewith the present invention. Blocks 501-503 are similar to Blocks 401-403of method 400 of FIG. 4. For example, a passenger may select a type ofaircraft being flown, maximum/tolerable/threshold acceleration valuesfor the aircraft may be determined, and acceleration data may bemeasured during the flight. In Block 504, information regarding measuredacceleration may or may not be provided to the passenger.

In Block 505, a message, graphics and/or other information to provide toa passenger is determined based on the measured acceleration data; andthe message, graphics and/or other information/content is provided tothe passenger in Block 506. For example, if the acceleration dataindicates that the flight is smooth, music, flight information,entertainment, etc., may be provided to the passenger. If accelerationdata indicates that the flight is getting bumpy, calming messages may bedisplayed, breathing techniques may be suggested, or the like (e.g.,content may be adjusted based on measured acceleration).

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of an example method 600 provided in accordancewith the present invention. The method 600 begins in Block 601 in whichmaximum, tolerable or otherwise relevant threshold acceleration valuesmay be determined for the aircraft being flown. In some embodiments, adatabase or lookup table of aircraft and corresponding maximum (orotherwise relevant) lateral, vertical and/or longitudinal accelerationvalues may be developed and stored in the cellular telephone 204, tablet206, etc.

In Block 602, acceleration data is measured during flight. For example,an application executing on the cellular telephone 204, tablet 206 orother suitable portable electronic device, may monitor and/or collectacceleration data measured by the portable electronic device or anexternal device. In some embodiments, the portable electronic device maydirect the passenger to place the portable electronic device in aparticular orientation, and acceleration data may be monitored and/orcollected.

In Block 603, biometric information is determined for the passengerduring the flight. For example, a heart rate monitor such as a cheststrap or wrist band may be employed to measure heart rate and provideheart rate information to the cellular telephone 204, tablet 206, aportable video game player, a laptop computer or the like. Otherbiometric measurement devices may be employed to measure and/or providebiometric information to the cellular telephone 204, tablet 206, orother portable electronic device, such as pulse rate, brain activity,skin resistivity, breathing rate, etc.

In Block 604, if desired, a representation of measured accelerationalong the flight path may be displayed. For instance, a plot, table orother representation of acceleration data may be displayed, such asshown in FIGS. 3A-3B. An auditory readout also may be employed.Biometric information may be displayed if desired.

In Block 605, a message, graphics and/or other information to provide toa passenger is determined based on the measured acceleration and/orbiometric data; and the message, graphics and/or other information isprovided to the passenger in Block 606. For example, if the accelerationdata and/or biometric data indicates that the flight is smooth, music,flight information, entertainment, and/or other content, may be providedto the passenger. If acceleration data indicates that the flight isgetting bumpy, calming messages and/or other relevantinformation/content may be displayed, breathing techniques may besuggested, or the like. The effects of the displayed information may bedirectly measured based on monitored biometric data, and content may beadjusted if needed. In some embodiments, the biometric data may bemonitored by the portable electronic device to determine if thepassenger is asleep (e.g., by monitoring heart rate, breathing rate,sleep cycles, etc.), and content and/or lack of content may bedetermined based on the biometric data and/or acceleration data.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart of an example method 700 provided in accordancewith the present invention. The method 700 is similar to the method 600of FIG. 6, but may or may not measure acceleration data during a flight(Block 701). Biometric information regarding a passenger is monitored(Block 702) and a message and/or other content is selected based on themonitored biometric information (Block 703). The selected message and/orother content is displayed/played (Block 704). As with any of the abovemethods, the method 700 may be repeated for any desired duration.

In some embodiments, acceleration data may be communicated betweenmultiple portable electronic devices on the plane 100, and/or acomposite map of acceleration versus seat position may be determined.Seat position, for example, may be stored in each portable electronicdevice. Likewise, acceleration data may be collected from multipleflights, and maps of observed turbulence over particular routes, duringcertain times of day, during certain times of year, during cloudy and/orstorming weather, for a specific airline, etc., may be compiled. Suchdata may be used to create threshold acceleration values for passengersand/or aircraft (e.g., such as those used to adjust content presented toa passenger during a flight). Similar maps and/or threshold values maybe developed based on biometric information collected from one or moreportable electronic devices.

In one or more embodiments, a web server may collect acceleration and/orbiometric data from flights and generate turbulence maps and/or maps ofstress levels during flights. In at least one embodiment, prizes may berewarded for people who experience the greatest turbulence and/or stressduring any given flight. In some embodiments, airlines may use the datato compensate the passengers who experience more than a threshold amountof turbulence. Further, third parties such as doctors, counselors,marketing firms or the like may be provided with acceleration and/orbiometric data. Likewise, acceleration and/or biometric informationassociated with passengers may be provided to a flight crew (e.g.,allowing the flight crew to monitor passenger stress level or passengerinformation). In some embodiments, biometric data of flight crew orother passengers may be displayed and/or used as “threshold” values forpassengers (e.g., the flight crew isn't worried so you shouldn't beeither).

In some embodiments, acceleration data or other flight data collectedduring a flight may be used to affect video game play on a portableelectronic device such as a portable video game player, cellulartelephone, tablet computer, laptop computer or the like. For example,turbulence experienced by a plane may be mimicked in a virtual (game)environment, increase or decrease video game character life, energy,speed, etc., cause environmental changes in the video game such as bycausing clouds, tornadoes, rain, or the like to form in the video game,cause objects in the game to bounce or vibrate, etc. In the same orother embodiments, biometric data from a passenger may be used to affectvideo game play and/or environment. For instance, a video game may beconfigured so as to allow better or enhanced game play if a passengerremains calm (as determined by biometric information measured for thepassenger).

In some embodiments, trends in acceleration data or biometric data maybe employed to adjust information provided to a passenger. Biometricinformation and/or acceleration information may be provided to a socialnetwork site.

Computer program code may be developed to execute one or more of themethods described above, and such computer code may take the form of anapplication executable on a mobile device such as a smartphone, tabletcomputer or the like.

Turning to FIG. 8, a schematic drawing of an example system 800according to embodiments of the present invention is provided. Thesystem 800 includes a plurality of vehicles 802A, 802B (only two show)(e.g., aircraft) that each include a communication facility 804A, 804B(e.g., a wireless WiFi router and modem) that enables communication oftravel and acceleration information between electronic devices (e.g., acellular telephone 204, a tablet computer 206, smart wristwatch 208,etc.) and the Internet 806. In some embodiments, the electronic devicesmay connect to the Internet 806 directly, themselves. The system 800 mayfurther include one or more servers 808, 810 (only two show) thatinclude program code adapted to collect, aggregate, correlate, and/orauthenticate travel and acceleration information received from theelectronic devices 204, 206, 208. Likewise, the servers 808, 810 mayinclude program code adapted to provide the aggregated, correlated,and/or authenticated travel and acceleration information to usercomputers 812 and/or the electronic devices 204, 206, 208 via theInternet 806. Thus, for example, the servers 808, 810 may include a webserver that collects acceleration information from many differentairline flights and provides users information about which airlinesexperience the least turbulence. Further, the web servers may includecode to determine which pilots are able to avoid turbulence more thanother pilots. Likewise, the web servers may provide ratings of pilots,aircraft, airlines, etc. that rank the smoothness of the correspondingflights (including landings) and predict the likelihood of a smoothfuture flight. In some embodiments, weather conditions and routeinformation may be factored into the rankings. The web servers may beadapted to push notification information regarding the rankings and/orpredictions to users as information about an upcoming flight becomesavailable (e.g., when a pilot and plane are assigned to fly a particulartrip, based on available weather and/or turbulence maps, etc.).

In some embodiments, the electronic devices 204, 206, 208 may use GPS orother information to determine the direction of travel of the vehicle.Thus, instead of having to orient the electronic device 204, 206, 208,the acceleration information may be determined automatically and even ifthe electronic device is moved to a different orientation. Likewise, theelectronic device 204, 206, 208 may be programmed to automaticallydistinguish between actual turbulence experienced by the vehicle andsimple motion of the electronic device 204, 206, 208. This may beachieved for example, by correlating acceleration information betweenmultiple devices 204, 206, 208 on the same flight or within a certainpredefined proximity. Other methods may be used.

Flight information may be received from the web servers or other sourcessuch as third parties or airline carriers. The travel or flightinformation may include information about the pilots, routes, schedule,weather conditions, cost, the aircraft (including accelerationtolerances), number of passengers, the number of electronic devices 204,206, 208 monitoring the flight, the speed, direction, altitude, etc., ofthe flight, and the like. Graphical representations of statisticsindicative of the smoothness of a flight may be generated fromhistorical collections of travel and acceleration information.

In some embodiments, the web servers may include code to enablepassengers to communication travel and acceleration information withother passengers on the same or different flights. For example, the webservers may track and record individual passenger's travel andacceleration information and create “personal worst” summaries of thepassenger's strongest turbulence experienced for comparison to otherpassengers.

Further, the web servers may include code that generates real time andhistorical turbulence maps that may be communicated to passengers. Thus,for example, passengers may receive push notification in real time thata geographic area that their flight is approaching includes turbulencemeasured by other users/passengers' electronic devices that arecurrently passing, or have recently passed, through the geographic area.In some embodiments, information indicating the passenger's aircraft mayeasily tolerate the turbulence experienced by the earlier plane may alsobe provided on the electronic devices 204, 206, 208 based on acomparison of the respective plane's construction specifications.

The electronic devices may also function in a passive mode to collecttravel and acceleration information and provide this information to theweb servers at a later point in time, e.g., when the electronic device204, 206, 208 is connected to a computer or coupled to a home network.Thus, the electronic device 204, 206, 208 may function as a “black box”that records travel and acceleration information for later review. Insome embodiments, such electronic devices 204, 206, 208 may be used tolater determine details about events leading to catastrophic events suchas a crash. Further, the electronic devices 204, 206, 208 may includecode that transmits a distress signal or beacon if a magnitude ofacceleration (significantly) beyond the tolerance of the aircraft isdetected. For example, if multiple electronic devices 204, 206, 208 onthe same flight determine that an aircraft has suffered a force strongenough to seriously damage the aircraft, the electronic devices 204,206, 208 may be adapted to report the incident and location informationto transportation authorities or rescue personnel.

One or more of the methods described herein may be implemented incomputer program code, such as part of an application executable on aportable electronic device, as one or more computer program products.Other systems, methods, computer program products and data structuresalso may be provided. Each computer program product described herein maybe carried by a non-transitory medium readable by a computer (e.g., afloppy disc, a compact disc, a DVD, a hard drive, a random accessmemory, etc.).

Accordingly, while the present invention has been disclosed inconnection with example embodiments thereof, it should be understoodthat other embodiments may fall within the spirit and scope of theinvention, as defined by the following claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A system comprising: a portable electronicdevice; one or more accelerometers, the one or more accelerometersconfigured to generate acceleration data based on a flight of anairplane, the acceleration data being indicative of acceleration along afirst axis, a second axis, and a third axis; and computer program codestored in the portable electronic device that, when executed by theportable electronic device, causes the portable electronic device to:monitor the acceleration data generated by the one or moreaccelerometers during the flight of the airplane; and display arepresentation of the acceleration data generated by the one or moreaccelerometers in relation to a maximum safe acceleration of theairplane; wherein the first axis, the second axis, and the third axisare each orthogonal to the other two axes, and the maximum safeacceleration is an acceleration beyond which damage to the airplane inflight is expected, and wherein the one or more accelerometers aredisposed within the portable electronic device, and the computer programcode stored in the portable electronic device, when executed by theportable electronic device, further causes the portable electronicdevice to monitor acceleration of the airplane responsive to theacceleration data generated by the one or more accelerometers during theflight of the airplane.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: asensor disposed external to the portable electronic device, wherein theone or more accelerometers are disposed in the sensor, and wherein thecomputer program code stored in the portable electronic device, whenexecuted by the portable electronic device, further causes the portableelectronic device to monitor acceleration of the airplane responsive toreceiving acceleration data from the sensor.
 3. The system of claim 2,wherein the sensor is disposed in a smart wristwatch.
 4. The system ofclaim 2, wherein the sensor is a wearable sensor.
 5. The system of claim1, wherein the computer program code stored in the portable electronicdevice, when executed by the portable electronic device, further causesthe portable electronic device to correlate the acceleration data with acorresponding location of the airplane.
 6. The system of claim 1,wherein the computer program code stored in the portable electronicdevice, when executed by the portable electronic device, further causesthe portable electronic device to provide a video game on the portableelectric device, and to employ the acceleration data to affect the videogame.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer program code storedin the portable electronic device, when executed by the portableelectronic device, further causes the portable electronic device tomonitor biometric information of a user of the portable electronicdevice, and to select content provided to the user based on acombination of the acceleration data and the biometric information. 8.An apparatus, comprising: a portable electronic device; one or moreaccelerometers disposed in the portable electronic device, the one ormore accelerometers configured to generate acceleration data based on aflight of an aircraft, the acceleration data representative of amagnitude of instantaneous acceleration; and a display screen coupled tothe portable electronic device, wherein the portable electronic deviceis configured to correlate instantaneous magnitudes of accelerationexperienced over time by the aircraft carrying the portable electronicdevice based on the acceleration data generated by the one or moreaccelerometers during the flight of the aircraft, wherein the portableelectronic device is further configured to display, on the displayscreen, a representation of the instantaneous magnitudes of accelerationover time in relation to a threshold acceleration tolerance level of theaircraft; wherein an acceleration of the aircraft greater than thethreshold acceleration tolerance level of the aircraft can damage theaircraft in flight; and wherein the portable electronic device isconfigured to monitor acceleration of the aircraft responsive to theacceleration data generated by the one or more accelerometers during theflight of the aircraft.
 9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein theportable electronic device is further configured to correlate theinstantaneous magnitudes of acceleration with corresponding locations ofthe aircraft.
 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the portableelectronic device is further configured to provide a video game on theportable electronic device, and employ the acceleration data to affectthe video game.
 11. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the portableelectronic device is further configured to monitor biometric informationof a user of the portable electronic device, and select content providedto the user based on a combination of the acceleration data and thebiometric information.
 12. A method of reducing anxiety during a flight,comprising: providing a portable electronic device having computerprogram code stored therein that, when executed by the portableelectronic device, causes the portable electronic device to: monitoracceleration data during the flight of an airplane; and display arepresentation of the acceleration data in relation to a thresholdacceleration tolerance level of the airplane; operating one or moreaccelerometers during the flight of the airplane, such that the one ormore accelerometers generate the acceleration data; monitoring, by theportable electronic device, the acceleration data during the flight ofthe airplane; and displaying, by the portable electronic device, therepresentation of the acceleration data in relation to the thresholdacceleration tolerance level of the airplane, wherein an acceleration ofthe airplane greater than the threshold acceleration tolerance level ofthe airplane can damage the airplane in flight, and wherein the one ormore accelerometers are disposed within the portable electronic device,and the computer program code stored in the portable electronic device,when executed by the portable electronic device, further causes theportable electronic device to monitor acceleration of the airplaneresponsive to the acceleration data generated by the one or moreaccelerometers during the flight of the airplane.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, further comprising: wirelessly receiving, by the portableelectronic device, acceleration data from a sensor disposed external tothe portable electronic device.
 14. The method of claim 13, wherein thesensor is disposed in a smart wristwatch.
 15. The method of claim 13,wherein the sensor is a wearable sensor.
 16. The method of claim 12,further comprising: correlating the acceleration data with correspondinglocations of the airplane.
 17. The method of claim 12, furthercomprising: providing a video game on the portable electronic device;and employing the acceleration data to affect the video game.
 18. Themethod of claim 12, further comprising: monitoring biometric informationof a user of the portable electronic device; and selecting contentprovided to the user based on a combination of the acceleration data andthe biometric information.